The latest on California politics and government

June 6, 2011

Twenty of the bills the Assembly sent to the Senate on Friday were empty vessels.

All of them are budget trailer measures that leaders in both houses hope quickly fill up with nuanced details, preventing Controller John Chiang from clamping down on their paychecks. Lawmakers have 10 days until the constitutional deadline arrives to deliver a budget to the governor's desk for him to sign.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Friday he is still committed to a floor vote this week to "make sure that we have as much time as possible to debate these issues before the 15th."

"The 8th would be preferable, but if the discussion and negotiations are close, we'll assess where we are on the 8th itself," he said. "We are going to call the question. Hopefully we call the question after there's been a handshake agreement, but either way we're going."

The Assembly returns at noon today, the Senate at 2 p.m.

GANG PREVENTION: Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Delinquency Prevention and Youth Development, holds a community forum at 1:30 p.m. today at the Oak Park Community Center in Sacramento. He'll also hold a 10 a.m. press conference in front of Fly Cuts & Styles, the site of a December shooting that killed two, including a mother placing her infant in a car seat.

VIDEO GAMES:Sen. Leland Yee, meanwhile, is standing by in case the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling in a case that challenged his 2005 law to prevent the sale of explicitly violent video games to children. In the event a decision is announced, Yee will hold a 10:30 a.m. press conference at the Hiram Johnson State Building in San Francisco.